2018 Year in Review: How Jiu-Jitsu helped me be a better Entrepreneur (and calmer person)

As a solo entrepreneur and a martial artist, this was one of my biggest takeaways this year. I have been doing jujitsu now very faithfully for probably about three years and ‘often and on’ for about 6 or 7 years now.

If there’s one thing that I have learned on the mat is to be comfortable in the uncomfortable. What I mean by that. You’re going to be in situations where you don’t feel comfortable. You will be in situations where you may not feel like you are in the best situation, but remaining calm and breathing in that situation and finding temporary rest and peace there will help you. You will need to breathe, relax and think of ways to re-gather yourself. So this is just like in jujitsu you may find yourself on the bottom of the fight and as long as you are safe, you don’t necessarily have to quote ‘do’ anything right away, you can breathe (stay safe) and wait for the opportunity to present itself to move, or find a little space here and there so that you can create the situation to move.

Feeling comfortable in these situations and knowing that it’s temporary gives you the calmness needed to strategize how and when to move when the time is right. I have applied this method to my life, especially as a solo entrepreneur because there have been times I’ve been uncomfortable in things that have been going on. The technology wasn’t working, or outside factors (relationships etc.) were stressing me out. If things were just not going the way I perceived, I found myself referring back to my jujitsu to be ‘comfortable in the uncomfortable.’ To breathe, relax, and just take a minute to gather myself, and know that there will be a better opportunity in the future. So this is my big take away for 2018 I’m looking forward to 2019.

Id love to hear what your biggest takeaway was from 2018 if you would like to share go HERE